Why the marines use code names
by Swedechan
Summary: Sabo finds a Death Note, a book granting the owner power to easily kill. What will he do with it, and what will it do to him?


Disclaimer: Eichiro Oda, and only Oda, owns One Piece. I am not the genius who came up with Death Note, either.

Author's note: I just got this thought about what would happen if Sabo had a death note (a book who can be used to kill people, originally from a manga/anime series by the same name). And I wrote this on that whim. It's currently a one-shot, though if anybody likes it I may continue writing.

I know the title sucks, and I aplogise for it as well as any OOC:ness and grammar mistakes.

* * *

 _Rule number 1: The human whose name is written in the Death Note shall die._

* * *

Luffy was trying to catch the vivre card, just as Akainu moved against him. In less than a moment, Ace placed himself between his little brother and the approaching admiral.

Then the attack stopped. His red fist slowly returned to his normal skin color, as the magma disappeared. Akainu fell onto the ground, face-down, as he died.

Ace stared, his mouth dropped open, when Jinbe caught up to them. "We have to get out of here! We..."

His words disappeared in an ear-shattering sound of thunder Everything became blinding white for a second. When the light returned to normal, you could see smoke rising from Kizaru´s mouth. His eyes had rolled back into his head, leaving only white eyeballs in its place. His body was weirdly contorted, by the electricity running through his body. He collapsed as well.

Now the marines were really freaking out.

Somewhere far away, Sabo sat in the shadows of a tree, watching the big screen from a distance. His notebook rested against his crossed legs, and he was busy working out how to deal with the remaining admiral.

"Sabo-kun!"

"Shit," he muttered, and quickly put the book back into his bag, hidden from view.

"Were you hiding something just now?" Koala demanded as she reached him.

"No."

"What were you doing here anyways? We´re supposed to be freeing slaves, not..." She saw what was showing on the screen. "Hm? What´s going on?"

"Beats me." He stood up. "Freeing slaves. Right. Let´s go."

* * *

Death was always looming over my shoulder, watching me as I performed it´s duties. Saving my brothers had been the first time I used the book. But it wouldn´t be the last.

I kept up appearances. I was the ideal revolutionary soldier. Dedicated, hard-working, gaining more power and knowledge each day. I helped train the younger recruits too. They looked up to me.

The first mission I was in charge of was successful. I had the chance to prove my leadership skills. But that wasn´t enough to get a higher position. It was to be given to someone older than me, someone with more experience.

If Dragon knew about my true strength, he wouldn´t have neglected me more might within the organisation. He thought he was the most powerful. That was even what the marines said. The most dangerous criminal in the world. But he was still human, and no human was above the gods. And the gods had chosen me as their emissary, to restore order in the world. It was only just.

My main competitor suddenly fell down the stairs, breaking his neck. It was very unfortunate, but these kind of tragedies do happen. I ripped out the page on which I´d written his name, and discarded it in the ocean. No one could find out.

It wasn´t always easy, keeping the secret. It was like a burden, growing in my stomach. All the responsibility I carried, and no one ever praised me for my work. It became even harder as I met Robin.

Robin was sort of an outcast. Had been since her childhood. Everyone always betrayed her for something as simple as money. But now she was a part of my little brother´s crew, and she seemed satisfied with it. I knew about the Enies Lobby incident, had read the newspapers and marvelled.

The fact that Luffy had wanted her in his crew made me immediately appreciate her. As time passed, we grew closer. She was intelligent, calm, sensitive, and very, very beautiful. She was the person I didn´t realise I had missed before I met her.

She was also very perceptive. When she learned about my connection with Luffy and Ace, she started putting pieces together. I decided to show her the book. I made sure she didn´t touch it, though. The sight of the shinigami was frightening. She went deathly quiet, after I showed her the front page, the rules, and the names I´d written. I asked if she wanted me to demonstrate how it worked, but she refused. She didn´t need to.

She believed in the book´s power before she had even seen it being used. Fantastic.

Or not. The next minute, she asked: "Are you alright?"

"You don´t believe me," I stated. "I can prove it to you."

She shivered visibly. "Prove it? Are you talking about killing someone?"

A smile passed across my lips. "It won´t be someone innocent. I know the perfect victims."

She shook her head. "Whatever this is, I will not be a part of it."

"You don´t have to do anything. Just come with me."

Another silence. She looked down at the floor, unmoving for several minutes. I was getting nervous, my patience slowly shrinking, when she looked at me again. "I do care for you. If this is important, whether it´s true or not, I will follow you."

* * *

"Who can it be, visiting this late?" Sabo´s mother questioned.

"Maybe it´s Stelly´s doctor. He said he`d come by again soon," Sabo´s father said. He put his newspaper down, and headed for the door. Outside of it stood a man and a woman. The first thing he noticed about them was how finely dressed they were. The woman wore a black skin-tight dress and heeled shoes, while the man was dressed in a fashion very similar to the noblemen in Goa Kingdom. He frowned. "Who are you?"

"Hi, Dad."

He finally recognised who was standing outside his front door. "S-sabo? You... How?"

"How I´m alive? It´s a long story. Can we come in?"

The older man´s face contorted in a mixture of rage and fear, but he subtly returned his facial expression to a neutral one and stepped aside and gestured for them to enter. As soon as the door closed, he reached for a drawer and pulled out a gun.

"Sabo-san," the woman said darkly, noticing it.

"It´s fine, he won´t hurt us," his son said.

"I just made tea. Why don´t you join us?" his wife said from the doorway.

"I wouldn´t love to, but alright."

She let out a strained giggle. "This way."

With muscles tensed, and the gun directed towards Sabo´s back, he followed them into the fashionably decorated salon.

Neither of them wiped off their shoes, and they left mud on the carpet as they walked. Sabo didn´t leave his jacket in the hallway.

How disrespectful, coming back home after all these years and just barging in without any such consideration, he thought. Why he cared about such things at the moment, he didn´t know.

They seated in two white couches, with a black wooden table in between them. He and his wife sat on one side of the table, and Sabo and the woman - still not introduced - sat down on the couch opposite them. His wife started pouring tea, her hands trembling - she wasn´t as good as hiding her fear as he was.

"W-would you like sugar?" she stuttered.

"No thanks. Robin?"

The woman shook her head.

Sabo addressed the woman without using any honorific, he noted. Who the hell was she? She was too mature and beautiful to be interested in Sabo. Unless... He grit his teeth. No way would his son bring prostitutes into his home!

But he couldn´t speak the words he wanted. It was like his tongue was tied up. He just drank his tea.

"This is my parents, nobles of Goa Kingdom. Mother, father, this is Nico Robin. She´s a pirate and former assassin."

"How do you do."

"Nice meeting you," his wife said, albeit stiffly. She glanced sideways at him, as if expecting him to do something about the situation, perhaps use the gun. He really wanted to, but his arm wouldn´t obey him.

Sabo suddenly started to laugh. There was an amused glint in his eyes, as it had been ever since he came. "How polite you are, mother."

He wet his lips, finally managing to form some words. "Why are you here?" His grip on the weapon tightened.

Sabo relaxed. "To say my goodbyes." He poured milk into the tea, and started circling his spoon in the drink. He noticed that his son´s hair has grown - blonde curls framed his face. He had no idea what Sabo had done all this time, but at least he cared about appearance. His son still looked like a noble, although he was undeserving of the title. It made him want to puke.

"Goodbyes?" his wife asked. "Are you leaving?" She looked relieved.

"I feared we would have some more time to talk, but," Sabo glanced at a clock hanging on the wall, "we made it here just in time. Farewell mother."

He lifted his gun and directed it towards his wife. She let out a surprised scream that was cut short as he shot her in the head. Blood and brain substance, red and grey, dirtied the sofa, and her body slowly glided to the floor. His eyes stung, and his arm started to shake uncontrollably, but he managed to hold onto the gun.

"Farewell, father. I hope you rot in hell."

He put the gun against his own temple, and pulled the trigger again.

* * *

I put my hands behind my head and leaned backwards. I took some time to watch the scene in front of me, before I closed my eyes. I had killed my parents. Well, I couldn´t be proven guilty. There were no death sentences for writing names in a book.

Stelly had gotten a terrible disease and his body couldn´t take it. When his adoptive son passed away, his father had snapped and killed his wife and committed suicide. Or something in that matter.

My family had consisted of assholes, with stupid beliefs. If they had treated me differently, I wouldn´t have needed to do this to them. I had killed people before, both with the book and using my bare hands, but never had I been so satisfied after a killing before. An euphoric feeling filled me.

Adding to it was the fact I made my father write a suicide note, and a will where he left all of his belongings to me. I can only guess what dismay he felt before he died.

"The neighbors might have heard the shooting," Robin said.

I opened my eyes and looked at her. Smiled at her. Even despite what just happened, she was very practical. Calm. Collected. Before asking me all kinds of questions, she wanted to get somewhere safe. I admired her for that.

"Yeah. Let's head back to the ship."

I remembered the way to a back door. We´d just gotten outside when we heard the first scream as the bodies were found. We went to the backyard of a house next door, and rounded it to return to the street. A few neighbors had left their homes and come running to see what the commotion was about. No one took notice of us.

The air was clean. As we headed downhill, towards the poorer part of town, the wind carried with it a smell of... well, of dirt. And salt from the sea. In the Gray Terminal, there were some fires lit, for cooking and keeping warmth. It´s been several years since the area burned, and dwellers were starting to make their way back there, despite knowing what had happened. Most of them stayed close to the forest or the sea.

As they walked, I got this nostalgic feeling. Memories flooded through me. Every happy memory I had of the time before I joined the rebels included Ace and Luffy. They were still both alive, and kicking, partly thanks to me.

We had docked our borrowed ship at the shore close to the village, away from the thugs in the Gray Terminal. Still, we heard voices when we approached it. Some men were trying to get away on the ship, but they had no clue on how to do it. They hadn't even figured that they needed to raise the anchor.

We took care of them in seconds, throwing them back onto the shore and watched as they fled back into the woods.

Robin sat down at the railing, looking out on the moonlit water, while I went into the kitchen. I soon returned outside with a bottle and two cups. I started to pour sake into each and handed one to her.

"Want a drink?" I asked, smiling at her. She stared at the cup, shook her head and pulled her crossed arms tighter around her body.

"No."

"Are you cold? Do you want to get inside?"

She glanced to the door leading to the inside of the ship, thinkingly, and then looked back at me. "No."

I sat down at the table. This wasn´t the reaction I´d expected of her. "What´s wrong?"

"You killed your parents." She was still looking out at the ocean.

I swallowed. "They deserved it."

"And you're the one to decide that? It's true they treated you badly in the past, but you were out of their reach now. They could never hurt you again. Still, you..."

"Robin, there are two kinds of evil people in this world. The ones who do evil things, and the ones who see evil things being done and do nothing to stop it. This book, which contains the ultimate power, was given to me. I'm obliged to use it." I took the death note out of my bag and held it out to her. "Here. Touch it."

She glared at it. "Keep that thing away from me."

I could hear Death laughing mockingly from behind me, but as always I ignored it. I put the notebook back into the bag, and sat down again. The sake burned my throat as I drank it too quickly. I felt tears form in my eyes, but quickly blinked them away. I refilled my cup.

"So this book actually works."

"Yes."

"And you used it to save Luffy and Portgaz D Ace, by killing two admirals?"

"Precisely. I can control how people die, to a degree, and when they die. And I can control their actions before they die."

"Why did you spare Aokiji?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I got interrupted. But it's fine since Ace and Luffy made it." I smiled. I hadn't been present, but I'd still protected them.

"I see " She sauntered over to my table. Her hips swayed as she walked, and the dress showed a lot of her long legs. I rested my chin against my palms, observing her.

She took the bottle, walked to the railing, and threw it into the sea.

"Oi!" I shouted. "It was the last one."

She turned towards me, her gaze stern and arms crossed.

"You already had more than enough." She started to head for the exit of the ship.

"Where are you going?"

"Taking a walk." She stopped. "I might not be back for a while. Don't worry about me." She started to move again.

I got up from my seat, caught up to her and grabbed her wrist. "We're not done talking."

"Wrong. We're very much done." She tried to continue walking, but I pulled her back. A frown appeared on her face. "Sabo-"

"You're the first person I tell about the Death Note, and you're just gonna leave?!"

"What did you think I'd do?"

"I don't know. Be impressed, maybe?"

"Impressed?" I nodded. "You killed your parents. That you saved Luffy too with it doesn't matter. There are some limits that shouldn't be passed, but it seems it's already too late for you. That's why I´m leaving now."

I tightened my grip on her wrist. "Why can't we be on the same side?"

"Because your side just now lost its appeal to me."

"So you're betraying the Revolutionaries? Is that what you're saying?"

She opened her mouth. Then closed it. "No. I'm just expressing what I'm thinking. I thought we could be honest to each other," she said finally.

"Weeell, what you're thinking kinda sucks."

"And since we disagree, you plan to do... what, exactly?" I didn't have an answer to that. She narrowed her eyes at me. "Good evening, Sabo-san."

"Wait." My head was pulled backwards, and I felt a sudden, sharp pressure against my airway. It made me gasp, but I couldn´t breathe in any air. I instinctively moved both hands to my neck. The arms Robin created disappeared as I wrenched her hands away, and sucked in a mouthful of air.

I stared out into the moonlit forest in front of me. Robin was already stepping onto the ground.

If I had any sense left, I would have let her go. But I was drunk and annoyed, and I had this suspicion that if she left now, I would never see her again. So I hurried after her.

I swayed across the deck. But before I've gotten very far, something hit against the back of my head. Although the blow wasn't very strong, the attack surprised me and I stumbled forward. Someone of the thugs must still have been inside the ship.

I placed a palm against the deck, keeping myself upright. I threw a glance over my shoulder, and lifted a foot, making my sole land hard in the side of my attacker's face.

Soon after he'd fallen, and before he barely knew what was happening, I grabbed his shirt and simply threw him over the railing, into the water. His screams faded quickly - apparently he wasn't good at swimming.

By that time, I was tired. My brain urged me to sleep, and I listened to it. Somehow, the deck seemed like a perfect spot to lay down.

* * *

"I'm not buying it," the police woman said, as she stalked back and forth innthe room. "He have been gone for years, even considered to be dead, and reappears only three days after his family died."

"What of it?" the police chief asked, although he was actually tired of hearing another of her theories.

"His father wrote a testamente, saying Sabo would inherit everything they owned. How come he gave everything to a son he thought was dead?"

"Sabo said he didn't think that. They had been writing letters to each other in the past."

"Letters that weren't found. Isn't that strange?" She stopped her restless pacing. "Then there are the cups. Four cups, filled with newly-made tea, even though there are only three members in the family. Considering how sick their kid was, there must have been at least two visitors."

"What are you trying to say?"

She bore her eyes into him. "I don't believe in coincidences. I think the Outlook couple was murdered, and I think Sabo is involved somehow."

He glared straight back at her. "You're in over your head. It was clearly mr Outlook who went mad, nothing else. Don't lightly throw accusations at nobles."

The young woman clenched her fists. "You fool. You know I'm right."

He waved with a hand. "This is a waste of time. Get back to your work."

She violently pulled a hand through her hair, in a familiar gesture of annoyance, but left without saying anything else.

When she'd gone, he opened a drawer in the desk, and picked out an article that he'd saved. It didn't say very much about the deaths, but it consisted of a brief interview with Sabo, the heir to the Outlook's property. He expressed sadness over finding out everyone in his family had passed away before he came, but said he would take good care of the home where he lived as a child. He'd travelled the world for years, making a living by working on several different ships. When he learned of his little brother's deadly illness, he'd hurried home. But he came too late to say any goodbyes. When faced with the comment that he would surely attract alot of attention among the young ladies in Goa, thanks to his new riches and status, he said that he had no plans of getting married at the moment. The reporter finished with saying she hoped the Outlook family line wouldn't disappear, and Sabo agreed.

Despite neglecting his subordinates theories, the policeman felt a nagging doubt. There was something with the stiry that didn't seem right, but he couldn't say exactly what.

What he'd said to her had been true, however. It was best, even for the police force, to don't sniff around too much in noble families' businesses.


End file.
